Haunting Memories
by Nocturnalwhitewolf
Summary: Memories of Shadow's dark past haunt him continously, preventing him from leading a normal life. He tries to go to his friends for help, but they can do nothing as his past slowly kills him... takes place five years in the future.ShadowxRouge,ShadowxMaria
1. Memories

Haunting Memories - NocturnalWhiteWolf

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*I don't own any of these characters, nor anything that pertains to Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega, or its parents. I'm just a fan ^-^

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This is rated T for coarse language, violence, and some mild sexual themes toward the beginning.

* * *

"Shadow?" The room is without a fraction of light except for the reflection on Maria's eyes as she looks to Shadow's resting body. "Shadow are you awake?"

Shadow opens his eyes slowly as he sits up in his bed. "Hi Maria." He says somnolently.

"Sorry. I didn't wake you, did I?" She whispers tenderly.

"It's alright, Maria." Shadow says quietly as he gets up, cracking his neck to one side. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no." she says, a giggle rising in the back of her throat. "It's just that Grandpa's having a dinner party with a few friends in the colony, and he wanted you to come."

"Oh," Shadow utters, the drowsiness evanescing into an energetic smile. "He wanted _me _to join him?"

"Yeah," Maria giggles at Shadow's enthusiasm. The enthusiasm you see out of a child who just got a hard father's approval, or worker receiving a long awaited promotion. "So come on sleepy-head. It's starting in about twenty minutes."

"Okay, just give me a minute to get my shoes on." Shadow spun to the side of his bed and grabbed his shoes and socks. Maria watched as he strapped them on and put on his gloves. Shadow noticed her. "Is something wrong, Maria?"

She giggled. Shadow always loved that. To him it was like an angel's harp playing in his undeserving ear. It left a solemn bliss in his chest. "No, it's just…" She began, smiling but turned slightly away. "Sometimes it's hard to believe that you're one of grandpa's… inventions." A sigh left for a short silence. "You seem so… real. Not like a machine or anything."

"Thanks Maria. I'd like to think I'm not that way either." Shadow got up and walked toward her. "Well…" He said, gesturing to the door. "Ladies first." He smiled.

"There's no way you're a machine." She laughed. "You're too damn cute." Shadow blushes as he turns his head down and smiles bashfully.

* * *

Shadow's eyes ease open with a grunt in his bed. "Uggh" He groans, looking at the clock. It's six a.m. "Damn it!" He growls as he rolls quickly out of bed, swearing as he struggles to get his clothes on.

* * *

Rouge stands on the white sidewalk lining the building behind her. She's bundled up in an imitation fur coat that ends just before the belt line of her skin-tight jeans. She's wearing brown leather heeled boots and her lower abdomen is slightly exposed to the cold.

She hears the loud roar of a motorcycle and sighs in relief. "Oh, finally." She says. Shadow pulls up to the sidewalk. "What took you so long; I'm freezing my ass off out here!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" Shadow says routinely. "My alarm clock didn't go off." Shadow's wearing a dark wool car-coat, a cloth hat, jeans, and leather gloves; all monochromatic in black. Of course he's wearing his jet-shoes too.

"Yeah, well you better fix the Goddamn thing. Or better yet, GET A NEW ONE!" Rouge yells.

"Look, I know I fucked up, and I'm sorry." Shadow says through his teeth. "But I'm here now, so unless you want to argue about something I can't change and freeze to death in this icy hellhole, get on the fucking motorcycle and we'll talk when we get home."

Rouge stared at him in hesitation before getting on the back of the motorcycle. Once Rouge got on the back of the bike, wrapping her arms around her boyfriend's torso, Shadow turned back the right handle bar and the bike carried them to their apartment.

They walk into their suite. It's a very decent living space. The walls are painted a light shade of green that went well with the black leather couch and silver lined glassed table. A giant plasma screen T.V. added a luxurious feel to the place.

Rouge walked into the bedroom as Shadow walked to the small kitchen. He started up the coffee maker while taking off his car coat and gloves. Once its set, he heads over to the bedroom where Rouge is as he kicks off his shoes.

"So…" He starts over the rumble of the coffee maker. "You gonna yell at me some more." He smiled sarcastically.

Rouge turned her head and grinned a little. "No" She said. She turns back to him. "The damn thing's broken obviously." She sighs. "I guess it's not your fault." She cocks one hip out and puts her hand on her hip.

Shadow sits down on the bed. "So how was NYC?"

"The crowd was great, but the apartment sucked." She turns her head back to him again. "You would think they could find a decent place for their star."

"Oh," Shadow starts. "Well I guess frugality's a good thing sometimes."

"Not this time, hon." She said, her eyes studying the room. "And you know the worst part about the trip."

Shadow laid back on Rouge's eleven-hundred dollar tempur pedic bed. "What's that?" He said.

Rouge eases herself on top of Shadow. "There was no one to keep me warm at night." She said in her seductress voice, grinning slyly with half open eyes.

Shadow smiled. "You want to make up for the week you were gone, dontcha?" Rouge nodded as she pushes him onto his back.

"I missed you…" she said as she slips off her jacket. She leans down onto him and they kiss tenderly.

"_Shadow"_ he hears a voice in his mind.

"Maria?" He whispers out of Rouge's earshot as she continued to kiss his neck and chest.

"_Help me Shadow"_ Flashing images rage through his mind. Maria screaming, being taken by the G.U.N. forces, the gunshot that killed her… _"Shadow!" _her voice screamed, echoing itself in his mind. _"Shadow!" _it cried helplessly again. He felt his eyes growing hot with tears forming.

"Maria…" Shadow said, just loud enough for Rouge to hear.

"What was that?" she asked softly, not quite making out what he'd said.

Shadow rolls out from under her. "I can't do this." he whispered to himself. "Not now…" He's standing up now, drying his eyes while Rouge is still turned away.

"Shadow?" She says. "What the hell are you doing?" she says softly.

"I…uh," _I can't tell her that that's the reason._ He thinks. _That's a great way to completely ruin this relationship. I got to think of something… I can't be here right now._ "I forgot… I had…" _Come on, COME ON! Think of something!_ "I had plans…to meet with Amy."

"You have plans." Rouge said, not buying his little act one bit.

"Yes." He said defensively. "What, I can't have plans?"

"At seven O'clock in the morning? When we're about to have sex? What could be so important?" She's pissed and Shadow can tell.

"I was going to talk over coffee with her, if you must know." Shadow's improvising is starting to sound believable to himself, but Rouge is still unconvinced.

"If you didn't want to fuck me, you could've just said so." She says, very frustrated.

"I'm leaving now," He said, false anger rising in his voice. "I'm supposed to be there at seven-twenty, and I'm not the type to be late."

"And what exactly could you have to talk about with that giddy little brat?" She bites back at him.

"She wanted to tell me there. Knowing her, it's probably a surprise party for the 'almost weds'." He starts to put his clothes back on. "Why do I have to explain this to you anyway?" He raises his voice a little.

"Because you're lying. You just can't get it up." she says snootily.

"I don't have time for this, I'm running late." He says sharply.

"So if I were to call Amy right now, she'd tell me that you were gonna meet her for coffee at seven twenty today."

"Yeah, she would." he said. _Because I'm gonna call her the second I leave this suite. _He thought. And that's exactly what he did. Once the door closed, he pulled out his cell phone and pressed call on her name in his contacts list.

The phone rang for three long tones until Amy picked up. "Hello?" she answered.

"Hello, Amy?" Shadow spoke.

"Who is this?" She asked.

"It's Shadow. Are you doing anything this morning?"


	2. A Talk with Amy

The coffee house rested along side a very busy Chicago road. It seemed misplaced amongst the urban settlements and towering skyscrapers as a small brown dot of suburbia.

The inside was no different from outside. It was warm colored and relaxing, despite Shadow's tense situation.

"Alright, Shadow" Amy began as the waitress carried off their order. "What's up?" Shadow sighed heavily. It was an all too familiar gesture to Amy. "So, you and Rouge are having problems I see."

"Yeah." He said solemnly. "It's about Maria."

"Oh, big surprise." Amy rolled her eyes. Shadow glared at her, which made her uncomfortable. "Okay, that was wrong of me, I'm sorry." Shadow retreats his menacing stare. "But ya know you do talk about her a lot."

"I can't help myself." He snaps. The coffee arrives, and they both thank the waitress simultaneously. "You know the story, you know what happened."

"Yeah, I do." She said in a sigh. "I also know that that's probably the reason Rouge is mad at you. Am I right?"

Shadow shakes his head. "She's not mad at me…per say."

"Well, you came to me because you were having problems." Amy took a sip from her coffee. "I figured that meant she was mad at you." She watches as Shadow drinks from his cup. "Well, what's the problem?"

"It's Maria!" He said, raising his voice loud enough for heads to turn.

Amy shushed off the onlookers, then turned back to Shadow. "Calm down… no need to get testy with me." She says softly.

"I don't like repeating myself." His words were cold, scolding, and angry. He takes a breath. _She's just trying to help_. He lets out a calming sigh. "I just can't stop thinking about her. She's always on my mind, even when…well…" He stops mid-sentence, turning his head down.

"Even when what?" she asks.

"Even when…" he hesitates. "Even when Rouge and I are… intimate." He tightens his jaw.

There's a brief moment of silence between the two. Amy speaks up. "Well… that kinda sucks."

"Yeah, just a little" Shadow whispers sarcastically. _Hallelujah! Now the fucking horny fan girl knows how great my nearly nonexistent sex life is going. Un-friggin'-believable. _

"Well, that does sound like a problem." Amy tries to be gentle with her words, this way she won't offend him. "Do you think of her…sexually?"

Shadow's head jerks up. "No!" he whispers harshly.

"Well, what goes on in that head of yours?"

Shadow sighs inwardly, thinking back. "It's always about that last day I saw her." He feels his throat rising and heat rising on the back of his eyes. "I remember our conversations…what we did that day…when the G.U.N. came…her fear…" He paused and looked up through tears. "Her death…" he bits his lip as he looks down and begins to cry silently with his arm over his face.

Amy didn't quite know what to do. She'd never seen Shadow cry before, ever. She goes over to him and hugs him. "Sshh" she hushes him. She didn't know what else to say. _Shadow's very unpredictable. I don't want to piss him off. _She thinks.

People are staring at them in the restaurant. "What the hell are you assholes looking at?!" She yells. Everyone turns back to their coffee, and Amy turns back to Shadow.

"Hey…" She speaks to him gingerly. His head is turned into her shoulder as he weeps heavily. "Let's get out of here. We can go to my place for a little more…privacy." she sees him nod his head.

They both get up. Shadow removes his head from Amy's shoulder and wipes his eyes as they both walk to her car. They get in the sports-sized hybrid and Amy starts it up. "It's a bit of ride, I'm afraid." she says as she puts the car in drive and pulls out of the spot. "I live about an hour and a half away from here."

"How'd you get here when you did then?" Shadow said softly.

"Well, just under a half hour without traffic…but the ride back doesn't look like it's gonna be as quick." She says, gesturing over to the windshield.

Shadow sees Amy's point. "Oh…I forgot about that…" He says as he puts his hand on his head. "Morning rush hour traffic."

"Yep." She says quickly. "This might take a loooong time."


	3. Dream continued

The colony ark is buzzing with workers and residents on their way to their next destination. Shadow and Maria seemed to be the only people on the ark that were moving in an easygoing manner. They were walking side by side.

Shadow looked down at Maria's legs. She suffers from polio and cannot walk without the use of crutches and leg braces. It hurt him to see her struggle with every step, cringing each time her foot struck the ground in that awkward, flat, and lifeless way.

"Can't the doctor do something about that?" Shadow said, glancing briefly to her legs.

"Well, Grandfather's been very busy with his experiments lately." She said sadly. "He doesn't have time to work on this."

Shadow didn't like what he was hearing. "The good doctor has plenty of time to work on his experiments, and as it would seem, enough time for this dinner party." He looks at her with eyes filled with genuine concern. "I think he could spare a while to help his own granddaughter."

Maria halts Shadow with her right crutch and walks in front of him so that she's face to face with him. "Grandfather works hard every day to ensure the betterment of mankind." Her words were rebuking and scolding. "Don't denounce his work just because he can't aid every single person he comes across." She turns to the large window facing Earth.

"Look down there, Shadow" She says softly as she and him walk up to it. "There are around six point seven billion people down there. Every one of them needs my grandfather in some way." She looks down to Shadow. "Yes I have things that are wrong with me, we all do. But down there…" She turns back to the window. "There are people who struggle every day to find food for their families, people who are shot down in the streets for sport. There are people who are starving and every day is a constant fight to survive." She looks back at Shadow. "Now what do you think is more important; a little trouble getting around this place, or what's happening down there?"

As much as Shadow hated it, he knew she was right. "I…" He began. "I…I'm sorry. I didn't realize…"

"It's okay Shadow," She smiled. "You're just trying to look out for me."

Shadow smiles as they both look back to the big blue planet. "If people are suffering so much down there, why do you want to go to Earth?"

Maria smiled delicately. "Because Shadow," She begins. "Just because there is suffering, doesn't mean that's all there is. Just look at it…it's beautiful. I always wanted to know what it would be like to feel the cool breeze blowing through my hair, to swim in the great big ocean, to see the flowers in an open field…" She looks over at him with that same delicate smile. "It just seems so exciting down there, and I'd love to be a part of it."

"That does sound nice…" Shadow said, turning his head away so Maria wouldn't see his blushing cheeks.

"I can't wait to go down there. And grandfather said that I can be on the next shuttle to visit the planet with a friend." She says. Shadow can see the bright enthusiasm in her voice.

"The good doctor will let you go down there, eh?" He says smiling.

"Yes, and the next shuttle leaves in two days." She looks toward the planet again. "It's going to be so wonderful!"

"I'm so happy for you." Shadow says, smiling widely at her joy.

"And Shadow?" She asks.

"Yeah?"

"Grandfather said I could bring one friend with me…" She giggled bashfully. "Would come with me?"

Shadow's face got all red again. "Y…you want me to come with you?" he smiled.

"Yes, of course!" Maria laughed. "I don't think I could enjoy my trip there without you."

There was a brief moment of silent smiling before a much anticipated "Yes" escaped Shadows lips.

They just stared into each other's eyes for a bit. Then Maria said, "We should probably get going. The dinner party, remember?"

They both broke the gaze, both turning and blushing. "Right," Shadow said. "Well, uh… La-"

"Ladies first, I know." Maria chuckled. They both started back to the doctor's private dining area, when all of a sudden, people started to crowd their way. They all seemed to be looking toward the window.

"What are they doing here?" They heard from the massive crowd. "This doesn't seem right. What do they want?" Another said.

"Shadow?" Maria asked. "Do you think you could nudge through a few people and take a look? It could be serious." Shadow could see a firm but unstable concern in her eyes. He does what she says, and then reports back to her.

"There are ships, boarding the ARK." He says.

"Do they have a flag, or maybe a name painted on them?"

Shadow takes another look. "Yeah," He says. "G.U.N."

Maria sighs of relief. "Oh, okay." she mutters. "Hey everyone." she calls to the crowd. The all stop their nervous chatter to listen to the respected daughter of Dr. Gerald Robotnik. "It's okay. G.U.N.'s probably just here for a routine check up." She says.

"Is that what they always do?" Shadow asked her quietly.

"Yes." She responds. "They usual come when we're asleep, that's probably why they're so worked up." She turns back to the crowd. "There's nothing to worry about. Please return to your affairs." She sounded professional and dignified. Even at the age of fourteen, she shows more leadership skill than anyone around her.

"So," Shadow looks to Maria as they crowd goes back to what they were doing before. "You don't think they'll interrupt our dinner plans, do you?" Shadow laughed. Maria didn't. "Is something wrong?"

"It's just that I've never seen them do a 'check up' with so many ships. You don't think something has gone wrong, do you?" She said seriously.

"Like what?" Shadow asked.

"I don't know… but I think the crowd might have been right, something is definitely wrong here…"

_BANG! BANG!_ Gunshots echoed through halls, paralyzing every soul onboard…

* * *

_BANG! _Amy shut the driver side door, waking Shadow up. "Wake up, we're here." Amy said cheerfully. "You must've fallen asleep during the ride."

Shadow rose from his fetal position in Amy's car into the seat. With half open eyes, he opened the door and crawled out of the hybrid onto the neatly shoveled brick driveway.

It was obvious that Amy had done well for herself. Only eighteen years old and instead of a crappy apartment or her parents' house, she was living in something confusable with a mansion. It's made of stone and brick, and had the look of a designer style house, like it belonged to a celebrity.

Amy noticed Shadow looking curiously at her snow capped domicile. "My cousin." She said. "He struck fortune in Mercia after the war." She looked down briefly. "When he died, he left everything to me."

"Your cousin died?" Shadow asked. "When?"

"Two years ago he was assassinated by one of Robotnik's robots." Amy thinks back for a moment. "I think you and I hated each other then. That's probably why you didn't know."

"Well, for whatever it's worth now, I'm sorry for your loss." Shadow says sympathetically.

"Thanks…he was a good guy. He took care of me." Amy cleared her throat. "Come inside. I know you didn't finish your coffee, so I guess it can't hurt if you have some now." She squints her eyes as she look up into the temperately falling snow. "Besides, it's freezing out here. You don't want to catch a cold."

"Yeah." Shadow said as he followed Amy inside.


	4. A conversation finished

The inside of the house was no less impressive than the outside. Beige colored walls went well with the bunt orange carpet. The couch where shadow sits is in the center of the living room, opposing another couch with a coffee table between them.

Amy walks over with the newly made coffee. "How do you like your's?" she asks. Her jacket is off, revealing a forest green sweater, as are her shoes showing her white socks.

"Black, please." Shadow says, fiddling with his hat in his hand.

"Black?" Amy said, cringing her face. "Ew…" she says quietly as she lays down on the couch opposite to Shadow. Sipping from her coffee in a very etiquette manner, Amy starts up the conversation. "Alright, so… we're here. Tell me about what's been happening."

Shadow begins without any hesitation. "Well, I've been dreaming about her a lot. I've been seeing her quite a bit too."

"Seeing her?"

"Yeah… kind of like hallucinations." Shadow sighs into his coffee. "I guess that sounds a little… odd."

Amy adjust her position in the couch. 'Well… not really." she says.

Shadow takes a quick sip of his coffee. "What do you mean?"

"Well… as much as you may not want to admit it, you really are a… well, a machine." She hesitates to continue, knowing full well that her theory may test Shadow's temper. "You were made for a purpose. Maybe… when Maria died… that purpose was lost, or got altered." She sees Shadow's eyes, slightly red and puffy. She moves in closer to him, sitting up. "Shadow, I've never seen anything provoke the kind of emotion that the very mention of Maria can. I think, and correct me if I'm out of line, but I think that you were made to protect Maria. To be there for her." She notices a teardrop escape from his eye. "You see… this is what I'm talking about."

"But…" He hears his voice crack, causing him to swear under his breath as he wipes his eyes. "But how can I do something about this… you're supposed to move on when a loved one dies, so why can't I?" The waters start to flood up again.

"I…" she begins, unsure of herself. "I don't know how to help you, Shadow. You don't think Tails could work some of that hardware in your skull?"

"Tails is a mechanic. A brilliant, inventive mechanic, but still a mechanic." He looks up. "I'm bio-mechanical. He can't help me."

"Well…" she pushes her pink bangs out of her face with a sigh. "I don't know what to tell you then."

"You don't think…"

"Think what?" Amy says.

"That the doctor can help me?" Shadow knows what's about to come to him.

Amy puts down her coffee like a judge slams down his hammer. "No." She commands.

His expression turns solid. "But he might be able to help me…after all it was his grandfather that created me." he wipes his eyes again, this time calmly.

"Shadow," Amy says, getting up from the couch, pacing. "He killed my cousin, he almost killed Knuckles, he half killed bunny, what the hell do you think he'll do to you?"

"I have to try." He says into himself. "It's the only chance I have right now."

Amy continues to pace furiously. "Shadow, making you forget Maria would mean reprogramming your purpose, right?" He nods his head. "Well, what do think a control freak like him would do if he got the opportunity, the clear and obvious opportunity, to fuck with your programming."

"But Amy…"

"Shadow, I'm not gonna let you become another one of Robotnik's goons." She puts her hand over her head. "I get that you want the memories and the images to stop but…" she sits back on the couch. "Relying on the enemy isn't the way to go."

"Well what other ways are there?!" his voice becomes firm and defensive.

"You…" Amy sighs as she rests her head on her hands. "You may just have to deal with it Shadow." She sees Shadow about to retaliate, so she cuts him off. "And I know it's hard Shadow…"

"You don't know what this is like… don't even say you can even relate." Shadow grumbles.

"You forget that I lost everyone." Amy says, looking up at a very angry Shadow. "I didn't just lose my best friend. I lost my parents, my siblings, most of my friends…" She sighs painfully. "And my cousin was killed right in front of me." Shadow looks down with a tight jaw. "I know what it's like to watch helplessly, safe and protected, while someone you care about is butchered. So don't tell me I can't relate…the only difference…" She picks up her coffee. "is that I don't dwell on the past like you do." She sits back with the most serious of faces on.

Shadow doesn't look at her. "I don't need your lectures." He mumbles.

"But you did want my help." Their eyes meet. Amy pulls out a post-it and writes on it with a nearby pen. "Alright…this isn't the best of solutions, nor a sure fire way of helping you, but it might do something…" She hands him the post-it, "It worked for me when my cousin died."

Shadow takes the note and looks at it. "Dr. Lespiena, Kinder avenue?"

"He's an excellent therapist, and he's the only available solution for now." Amy sighs, knowing that Shadow won't like this.

"I'm not going to therapy, Amy." He says plainly.

"Why not?"

"Therapy's for drug addicts, psychos, and suicidal people." He puts the post-it note down on the coffee table. "I'm none of those."

"It's for people who can't handle things mentally and need help." She picks up the note and tosses it to him. "You need this Shadow, whether you want it or not." It lands on his lap.

Shadow looks back up at Amy. "I don't think this is gonna work."

"Well, give it a try… you were willing to go as far as to say 'Robotnik', so your obviously ready to try anything else, why not this?"

"And if it doesn't work?"

"Then we're back to the drawing board." She lays on her elbow. "So you'd better hope it does."

Shadow looks at the note one more time. "I think I'll take my chances with Robotnik." He tightens his jaw and sips his coffee. "Domineering control freak or no, he's still the only one who knows my programming."

Amy's jaw muscles visibly tense as a sigh escaped her small black nose. "I can't control you Shadow. Just cause I think you're wrong doesn't mean I can do anything about it." She whips her pink bangs back. "Just promise you'll be careful."

Shadow walks out of the house without another word, the door gently closing behind him.

"This is crazy." She says to herself. "Fuck, this is so stupid…" her bright green eyes shoot up to the door.


	5. A Hermit's Nest

It was strange to Shadow to see how poorly Robotnik's domicile had been kept. It had the look of a hermit's nest, with its rusted metal hull and moss covered door. It had been some time since he'd seen him, and didn't know what to expect. For all he knew, he could have gone crazy, or could even be dead. Neither of these would prove any use to him.

The easily falling snow had picked up to nearly a blizzard, casting thick clouds to block the sun and cover Shadow's intrusion. "I hope the doctor remembers me," he said, thinking back to the last time he saw him. "He's probably an old man by now… pity they age so fast." He makes his way up to the door.

As if on queue, his phone lets out a loud tone, causing him to curse under his breath. He looks at it, seeing Rouge's name appear.

"Audio disturbance detected." A cybernetic voice alerted. "Engage all threats."

Shadow's swearing was drowned out by the sound of rusted metal grinding as the machine erected itself. It stood over a hundred feet tall easily on its two legs, with the basic shape of a man. A tower among the twenty to forty foot forest trees.

"This is gonna be tougher than I thought…" Shadow jumps out of the way as the machine hammers down its massive fist! It fires with the other arm sending myriads of bullets swarming at the rapidly moving hedgehog! Then Shadow leaps high into the air using his jet shoes, slamming his head into the huge bot's main hull! It topples hopelessly to the ground, and out from the head falls Robotnik.

"Goddamn it Sonic!" he screams in a miserable and hoarse voice, almost crying. "Why can't you leave me be? Why must you always remind me of my failures?" He says between synthetic gasps. Shadow runs over to him.

"Well…" Robotnik says, sinisterly, a small grin growing on his face. "How do you like this?" He pulls out a gun and whips it around to aim, but Shadow catches his hand as the bullet leaves to his side. Shadow takes the gun out of his hand and throws it to the side.

"It's me, doctor!" Shadow barks, releasing the doctor from his grasp. "It's Shadow…" He sees the doctor's face soften. Five years had been a long time for him, and age had treated him poorly. Aside from the deep wrinkles on his face and graying jagged facial hair, one eye looked as if it had been burned until the pupil closed, and a part of his skull was robotic. His clothes were withering and ripped, as was his voice, which was slave to a respirator that was attached to his back.

"Shadow?" he said nostalgically, fixing his goggles back over his eyes. Shadow nodded coldly. "Well… come on inside." He said gently. "Let me fix you something to eat."

The robot reassembled itself into its original elongated structure. The door opens and a flickering light goes on inside. "It's alright." Robotnik says. "It isn't much, but it is where I've been living for the past while." he sighs at it sadly. "My own personal retirement home."

Shadow couldn't help but feel bad for Robotnik. He was a man who had given up everything due to age and injury, to become a hermit and a sick man awaiting death. It would be difficult to ask for his help, seeing his condition… but he had to try. He enters into the house before Robotnik.

* * *

Amy, from a distant hill, watched as the conversation took place. "Shit." Amy whispers. "I'm too late." Her jaw tightens as she pulls out her phone. "I guess there's only one way to handle this now…"


	6. Catching Up

The smell of rotting flesh and mildew overpowered any sense of visual perception of the place. Shadow's eyes even teared at the stench. After a minute or two he could gather himself to see the room. _Wow,_ he thought. _What a shithole. _Moss and dying plants covered the rusted metal walls and integrated themselves into the wiring that led to the barely working lights. Dead rats and small creatures were eaten by maggots on the floor. The glass windows had been shattered from past battles, and as it would seem, the doctor no longer cared.

"You get used to the smell after a while, I assume." Robotnik said as he leads Shadow to the main dining area, if a table and two makeshift chairs would suffice as such. "The view may be another thing." He pulls out one of the chairs. "Come, come, sit. I'll fix you what food I can."

Shadow sits at the table. "Doctor?" He began.

"No, no. It's just Ivo now." He said with a sad grin as he prepared a beverage.

Shadow brushed off the interjection. "Doctor, what happened to you?" There was a sincerity in his voice, one that was noted by its target.

"Well…" He said, each word cut short by the respirator. "One can only be beaten so many times without sustaining an injury or two." He feels the top of his head. "The most detrimental was within the year." He looked out the window thinking back.

"There it was," Robotnik began. "My latest masterpiece. It was sure to bring me the success I had deserved for ages; the newest and most improved Eggman command force ever!" He showed obvious pride. He handed Shadow his drink. "I would have the world by its balls! There was an air force, navy, marine core, army, everything! But of course… Sonic, the usual vandal, ruined everything…" Shadow saw the doctors rage build. "The little FUCK!" He slams his fist on the table as he sits down, causing Shadow to choke a little on his drink.

"What happened?" Shadow said recovering.

"I told the leader at the time to bow to me, and hand over the cities to my rule…"

"Your usual speech?" Shadow retorted.

"Followed by the usual failure." he grumbled audibly. "Sonic and the G.U.N. forces infiltrated my base of operations before I could engage my military on them and the cities. I was forced to flee, but it was too late." He thinks back morbidly. "Sonic found the controls to the military, him and his little pet Tails." He begins to pace. "They engaged the bots… but not on the cities."

"On you…" Shadow said.

"Not exactly." Robotnik said. "On the energy core powering the machines. Ironic in a way that that was the room I'd been in on my way out. The blast destroyed my left eye and fragments mutilated my diaphragm. I would've died if not for my partner Snively… but he'd left me since." he sighed. "My head was his parting gift." He tapped the metal part of his skull. "Shot me at point blank, thinking that would kill me." he sighed. "But the damn med bots wouldn't let me go that easily… and he hit an unused part of the cerebrum." He saw Shadow had finished his drink. "Want another?" He shook his head. "Alright then… what's your story?"

Shadow nearly lost color at that. He knew his story wasn't quite as tragic, or at least not of the late. "What do you mean?" he said innocently.

"Don't play games Shadow, I'm too old and too weary for that." He said bitterly. "No one visits old bastards like me to have a civil chat. You need something from me… something… about your biomechanics is malfunctioning, or your memory core." Robotnik analyzed him. "I'm not going to keep guessing, Shadow. Do you want my help or not?"

"Yes, doctor…err, Ivo." Shadow stuttered. "My memories…they are…"

"Of Maria." Robotnik cuts him off. "The girl you knew on the ARK."

"I can't understand why I retain these memories so… painfully. I thought I was a weapon of mass destruction created by Dr. Gerald Robotnik, not the protector of his daughter." He sighs and recedes.

"That's beyond my understanding as well, because you are right about your purpose." He thinks. "Maybe it was a duel purpose? To protect her against the world?"

"Whatever it is, I can't live with a purpose that I failed…" he cleared his throat as his eyes get red. "My memory core is driving me insane with grief, and I don't know what to do now that one purpose was failed and the other is gone." He breaths out his emotions. "I want you to correct my core programming and eliminate that purpose, to protect Maria." He feels his voice choke up at her very name. "I want to remember her, but I can't deal with this pain anymore…of knowing that my purpose can never be achieved, and not knowing what to do anymore."

Robotnik paces again. "So what purpose would you rather have?"

"The purpose she gave me, in her words… to protect the people of Earth, and to be there for them." Shadow gets up. "Can you do it?"

"Well, yes… its not beyond my capabilities… and I can probably even do it here and now." He looks at him as he stops pacing. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Shadow sighs. "Yes."

"Alright then." He smiles. "It'll take some time to prepare my gear-your workings are more difficult than others to operate on- so I advice you rest before the surgery. It will be a while." He goes into the next room. "There's a sofa here if you like." He gestures toward the couch.

Shadow smiles as he walks over to the sofa and sits down. "Thank you Robotnik." He says gratefully. He watches as Robotnik goes into yet another room to prepare, then lays down to let his mind fall victim to his last nightmare…


	7. The Last Memory

"No! Stop!" Shadow heard. "My experiments!" _BANG!_

"That sounds like the doctor!" Shadow yelled to Maria. "We have to help him!" He began toward the steel door.

"Where is it?" He heard a hoarse voice yell. "Where is your ultimate weapon? Where is SHADOW?"

Shadow busted through the door. "I'm here you ingrates!" He yelled as the guards drew their guns. "Leave the doctor!"

"Men, fire!" The commander screamed. Shadow braced for the impact. It was more than he would've ever thought imaginable.

A hail of fire stormed at him, each bullet pushing him closer and closer to what seemed like an imminent death. The pain, oh the pain was a sobering thing. Thousands of knives stabbing him all over for each bullet, or millions of steel hammers pounding on him continuously. It was agony… pure and relentless agony… and then his body fell limp… it was over.

"Shadow!" he heard faintly through ringing in his ears, that wonderful harp playing again.

"HEY!" The harsh voice of the commander. He felt his strength slowly regain as the ringing stopped. "Get the girl!" Shadows eyes shot open.

He rose before the men could get her. "Durable little shit ain't you?" The commander muttered, "Men. Aim."

"Chaos…" the emerald in the generator brightens at Shadow's voice.

"Fire!"

"Blast!" The guards and commander are whipped to the wall! Their ammunition hadn't even released from their guns.

Gerald Robotnik gets up and runs for the door. "Hurry!" he says. "Before they get up!"

At that Shadow dashes for Maria, picks her up, and runs off with Gerald, carrying Maria. "What was that Shadow?" Maria asked gently.

"I don't know Maria, but we don't have time." he looks back and sees the guards gaining on them. "Doctor where are we going?"

"To the escape pods, Shadow!" He pants. "We have to access the console from there and head down to Earth."

_BANG! _The doctor fell, blood dragging behind him.

"Doctor!" Shadow yelled.

"RUN SHADOW! SAVE MARIA, SAVE YOURSELF!" The guards catch him. "You are Earth's last hope! GO!" He yells. With that, Shadow dashes away even faster, Maria still silent in his arms.

They reach the escape pods, and Shadow sets Maria down near the console. She immediately uses the console to lock the steel door and keep out the guards.

"Shadow, why were they looking for you?" Maria's voice quivered. "And why would they want to hurt Grandfather?" Shadow goes over to comfort her. "His experiments are for the betterment of mankind… he poses no threat to them."

"I know it doesn't make sense Maria." Shadow spoke softly. "but we can't worry about that now. We need to get of the ARK."

"But grandfather…"

"Told us to keep running." Shadow tried to be firm. "He wanted the two of us safe, and stayed behind so that would happen. Don't let what he did be in vain."

Maria nodded sadly and prepared the console. A shuttle came up and opened behind Shadow. "There's only one shuttle in commission right now, so we'll have to squeeze together." The door to the room twitched. "Quick Shadow get in, I'll set the timer for the doors to close." he did as he was told, expecting Maria to come with him… but the doors to the room opened too fast, and the shuttle doors closed and sealed.

"Maria!" Shadow yelled. "What are you doing?" he banged on the glass, but it was to no avail. It was more than bullet proof, it was indestructible.

Maria walked over to the lever near shadow's capsule. "Take your hand OFF the lever, and put your hands in the air!" The guard yelled, gun pointed at Maria.

Maria pulled the lever, and a shot was fired into her abdomen. Shadow may as well have been shot himself, the pain of seeing her suffer on the floor. "Maria…" Shadow had tears in his eyes.

"The planet is so beautiful… it's too bad I won't be with you to see it." she said, a content smile on her paling face as their eyes met.

"Maria…"

"Shadow, I want you to promise me something…" she sighed. "I want you to promise me that you'll be there for the people of earth. That you'll protect them and be there for them as you have with me." The guard walked over to her and pressed the gun against her temple. "Sayonara… Shadow the Hedgehog."

With that, the loud crack of the gun sent pieces of her head all over the room, and blood exploded onto the capsule.

"MARIA!" Shadow yelled at the top of his lungs, tears pouring down his cheeks as started to make cracks in the glass with his fists. "NOOOO, MARIA!" The capsule shot out from the ARK. "AAAAAAAAAGGGGH!" His screams fade into the endless vacuum of space as he is sent to Earth. There are no words to describe what he felt.

* * *

Shadow's eyes shot open, but his body stayed put on the table, steel cuffs containing his arms at his sides and his legs parallel. He could think of a more comfortable positioning. "Doctor?" He asked softly.

"The cuffs are for my safety…just in case something goes wrong, it'll buy me some time." The doctor said over his face, in the bright operating light. The doctor held up a large needle, filled with a strange fluid. "An anesthetic." He said. "Hope you're not afraid of needles." he injects it into his arm.

"Doctor…" Shadow says. Robotnik looks up and sees tears in his eyes. "Why did she have to die? She was no threat, she was of no consequence, it makes no sense." Shadow's face contorts slightly as he cries. "Was it because of me? Of project Shadow? Am I her true killer?" Shadow's gut wrenches at the thought.

"There was nothing you could have done." Robotnik says, caressing his head. "Just relax and let the anesthetic work it's way in." Robotnik smiles. "Then you'll be all mine." He picks up his scalpel.

Shadow's eyes widen slightly. "You are going through with what we planned, right?"

"And miss my opportunity to get vengeance on Sonic and his little band of hoodlums?" He smiles to him. "Fifty years of life, and you still don't know to never trust the enemy. Pity."

Shadow struggled with the cuffs, but the drug had worked his muscles to near paralysis, and he was beginning to feel tired.

"They call you the ultimate life form, Shadow. And now that ultimate weapon can finally get me the revenge I so desperately crave." Shadow's head drops into slumber.

Eggman thinks back on the predicament. "Poor thing does feel quite bad about the incident. To think he would trust me with such questions; 'Is it my fault, am I her killer'" He thinks for a second. "I would have to be quite the cold and calculating bastard to take advantage of him now." He chuckles as he leans back in his chair. "He trusted me with his memories, his purpose, and overall…his life." He stands up to begin the surgery. "What an idiot."


	8. Goodbye Maria

"_I'm sorry Maria…" _Shadow's voice echoed in the pitch darkness. _"I failed you, fell prey to the cravings of a madman…" _His voice was soft, a near whisper. It sounded repentant, pleading and hurt. Then her breathing could be subtly heard; short, rapid, painful breaths on the edge of dying.

"_Don't leave me Shadow…" _she pleaded angelically. _"I'll die, Shadow, please…" _Shadow could feel her tears… hear them hit the invisible floor with a sound that can only be made of light. It ran cold chills down his spine.

"_I am sorry Maria" _he mutters, trying to ignore the agonizing emotion he felt. _"You know I loved you… I always loved you." _His head sinks into the darkness. _"But I can't control it now… its over…" _

"_But Shadow…"_ She becomes visible, as does Shadow, glowing with dim luminosity. She is laying down on her side, grasping her abdomen and trying to sit up. Shadow's will stops her.

"_Don't fight it, Maria." _Shadow commands tenderly. Every fiber of his flesh wanted to cry, to give in to himself. But he had to stay strong… for her.

Maria picks up the locket around her neck, opens it solemnly, and looks at it. A small smile appears on her snow white face. _"Do you remember these Shadow?" _She shows him the inside of the locket. There are two faded pictures in it; one of her and one of Shadow, both smiling joyfully. _"You were so happy there, so at peace." _She smiles sweetly before closing it and grasping it to her chest. The shining gold fades to a dull glimmer in her hands.

"_It's been more than fifty years," _He says sadly, his face downward. _"And all I can ever think about is when you were with me"_ His voice quivers, his throat balling up. _"You were so full of joy, so happy… and now…" _He sighs out his trembling vocals.

"_Now I'm with you… safe and secure in your memory."_ Her smile evanesces. _"And Shadow, you know there's no place I'd rather be…" _She truly sounded like she wanted Shadow to believe her, as if she would persuade him to let her stay.

"_Earth?"_ Shadow says through gritting teeth. _"Maria… I failed you when you needed me most… you will never see the planet you love because of my inability to help you." _He looks up at her, tears streaming down his cheeks. _"Don't you see Maria…?"_

She looks down, knowing what he is going to say.

"_Maria… You can finally be free." _He says smiling inwardly. _"No more polio, no more synthesized meals, and best of all…" _His smile widens through tears. _"You'll see your grandfather again, and spend time that you never could with him."_

"_But Shadow"_

"_Maria, please…" _His voice is as gentle and angelic as hers. _"I don't want to fight… and its not up to me either way" _He feels a coldness brush past him. _"Just don't fight it when it comes, Maria… you've already died once" _He steps back a little, letting the cold take her. _"Now Maria… live. Live as more than just a memory, more than just a ghost… live as the living… and forget me… as I have forgotten you."_

A wind picks up, blowing toward Maria. Long arms of blackness reach out to her. _"Shadow?" _She's panicking with droplets forming in her eyes, trying to avoid the dark arms slowly surrounding her.

"_Don't be afraid Maria" _Shadow calls lovingly through the growing wind.

The darkness begins to swallow Maria. Then she releases her anxiety, her fear, and her worry, and lets it all happen. _"I'll wait for you, Shadow…" _she says, relaxing her head back. The darkness moves its way up her shoulders to her head. _"Sayonara… Shadow the hedgehog" _A small smile appearing as the darkness embraces her completely…

She's gone. There is no trace of noise but the small, almost inaudible whimpers of the black hedgehog on his knees. _"Goodbye Maria…"_ He says through his sobs. His face hardens as he stands up. _"…Goodbye" _he whispers. His body is then blown to pieces by the winds, carried back into his new reality.

* * *

"I'll show that little shit!" Eggman grumbled as his hands fiddle around in Shadow's open skull. "He mocked me, humiliated me, and in the end, destroyed me… MERIDINE!" He calls harshly. A large med bot with one long robotic arm scurries to Eggman's side. "Pliers." He barked. The droid hands him the pliers and Robotnik commences with the surgery. "It was my right to rule this pathetic little world." He explains to the robot. "Mobius would have been all mine if it wasn't for that damn blue hedgehog!"

"Why was he such a factor?" The robot's muffled and feminine voice asked, studying the doctor as he worked with her large optic sensor.

His face and voice soften. "I don't know, Meridine. He's a curious little anomaly." He sets down his pliers and leans his weight on the operating table, sighing through his nose. "In retrospect, maybe he was the wiser. An IQ of 300, yet I still couldn't best a hedgehog with a 126 intelligence quotient. You're right in a way, Meridine, it doesn't make any sense." He postures himself and grabs a scalpel. "But he won't be a factor for much longer." He goes back into shadow's head.

"Do you still have plans for world domination, doctor?" The robot asked gingerly.

"No." He says shortly. "I could care less about this insignificant little blemish of the universe." He switches the scalpel for a wielding torch, as his goggles automatically cover over in a dark shield protecting his eyes. "I only care about one thing now, and I'll devote my entire being to it." The wielding torch stops, and the goggles adjust themselves again. "Stitches"

"S…stitches doctor?" The robot repeats.

"Hand me the stitches, you idiot contraption!" He orders with his palm open.

"Oh…" The robot picks up the stitches and hands it to him. Robotnik begins to sew the thread through Shadow's fur coated skin.

"I only care for one thing, and that thing is revenge." Eggman says, fully focused on his work. "If it costs me my life, my dignity, my sanity… So be it! As long as I get back at him." He finishes the stitches and ties the knot at the end. He then walks over to the computer panel and flicks a switch. A short, bright stream of electricity is sent screaming through Shadow's chest as his body lurches up onto his elbows and heels. He quickly falls back down onto the metal table. Eggman walks over to Shadow's head and kneels by his ear. "Awaken, my weapon of justice." He whispers.

Shadow's piercing red eyes shoot open. He studies his surroundings, and his eyes lock on Eggman. "Master…" His voice is dreary and emotionless. He looks down at his binds, then effortlessly breaks the thick metal cuff around his left wrist with the shear force of his arm. Then his other arm, then both of his legs, as if the restraints weren't even there. He stands next to the table, facing Eggman.

"I guess those restraints weren't of much use…" Eggman said, rolling his eyes with his hands on his hips.

"Strength is just one of my many abilities, my master." It was obvious that Shadow had no recollection of Eggman by the tone of his voice. "And all of my abilities are at your disposal… tell me your biding master, and I shall prove my worth to you, as your ultimate life form."

Eggman laughed sinisterly at the situation. It was quite a déjà vu moment after all, seeing as just six years ago the same thing had taken place. "I've finally done it, Meridine!" He says through painful laughs. "I will finally see the end of Sonic the Hedgehog!"

* * *

Sorry this chapter took so long to write. I was going through a serious case of writers block until late last night XP. Thank you all for your comments and compliments, they mean A LOT to me.


	9. The Return of an Old Friend

Amy bundled herself in her warm hooded, pink coat. The imitation fur around the hood and neck protected her face from the icy winds, each gust carrying her a few inches to her side. "Oh my God, where is he?" Amy growled, staring menacingly at her cell phone. She puts it back in her coat pocket and throws her hands in the air. "Fuck this!" She grunts. "I'm waiting in my car, where its nice and warm." She begins down the hill, the white snow nearly blinding her as she carefully takes each uncomfortable step.

"Where do you think your going?" …A deep and airy voice, so far away, yet even from the distance there was an almost angriness to it. Amy recognized those harsh vocals, for she had just heard them hours ago. It was among the last melodies she wanted to hear at that moment.

"So." She stopped, calmly grinning to herself without facing her probable assailant. "I guess we have some catching up to do, is that right Shadow?" She turns around and is startled by how close he is. There is less than an inch between them, giving Amy a clear look at his face.

Those eyes- piercing, cold red eyes- just stared at her in spite of the great winds and rapid snow that forced Amy's eyes almost shut. He didn't move, breathing so lightly it could go completely unnoticed. It was frightening, like staring into the emotionless eyes of your own death. Amy gripped her mallet tighter and swallowed.

"The doctor told me to eliminate all intruders on these grounds." The chaos emerald in his left hand brightens noticeably. "Don't try and resist," His words are barren and nearly lifeless. His hand juts out and latches to her throat, causing Amy to drop her primary weapon. He holds her close. "I'll make it quick."

Tears of fear stream down her cheeks as her teeth grit angrily, her eyes almost glowing of rage. She feels the grip tighten, crushing her throat as her vision begins to blacken. Her head begins to feel light, and she begins to go numb. Then came her relief.

_WHACK! _Shadow's eyes widen as he drops Amy and doubles over, clutching his groin. Amy gave a short lived smirk through the series of coughs as she gathers herself. She then ran to her car parked at the foot of the hill. She opens the door and tries to start it up.

"Fuck…" Shadow said, removing his hand from between his legs to support him in the snow. Amy was no longer in sight. He stands up, legs slightly wobbly at first, but recovering fast. He grunts as he cracks his neck to the side. "Chaos…"

Amy's car finally starts as she celebrates shortly with body motions. She puts it into gear and…

"CON-" Shadow disappears into a beam of light.

"-TROL!" The front of the car is smashed down into the Earth! Pieces fly everywhere, exploding around Shadow's fist! He watched as the back end of the car rose and fell slowly.

"You can't escape me, girl!" He yelled, staring at Amy's blood soaked face. "I am the ultimate life form! I AM SHADOW!"

"Ya know…" the new voice causes Shadow to look over his shoulder, eyes still glowing with hatred and power. "It's in pretty poor taste to beat up a little girl, wouldn't you agree… old friend?"

"Primary target, Sonic…" Shadow's voice changes to the typical voice expected of an egomaniac. He smiles as he faces his new opponent. Sonic returns the competitive grin. "Perhaps you truly are the hero they proclaim you to be. You arrived just in time to stall this girl's death for a while." The Chaos emerald glows ferociously. "I believe I will saver this…" His face is almost lustful. Seeing his only purpose within sight was almost too good to be true.

Sonic rolls his eyes. "Are we gonna do this _again?_" he crosses his arms and looks to the side with a wide straight mouth. "How many times do I have to kick your self-loathing ass before you get it." He looks at Shadow and smiles at his slowly growing anger. "I'm better than you, and that's not gonna change." he leans back, waiting for Shadow's response, and oh… he got it.

Sonic never could actually hear the sound of his own skull crackling before this instance. It left him puzzled on the ground before any comprehension of what had occurred could set in. He sat up dizzily with his legs straight and spread in front of him, small droplets of crimson in his lips.

"Ha!" Shadow proclaimed, standing at Sonic's feet. "You're too cocky! You left yourself open for attack." Shadow's grin drops as he turns his head bitterly. "I thought you would be fun to play with." Shadow watches as Sonic's expression turns sour. "I see now you're a bit rusty… pity… I really wanted some exercise."

With that, Sonic clashed his feet together into Shadow's legs, causing him to fall face first into the snow, blood pooling around his nose! Sonic then spun Shadow into a leg and knee lock, Sonic's legs in the crevice of his right knee, and the other on his shin forcing Shadow's leg down and his knee to begin to separate.

"Rusty?" Sonic chuckled, pressing harder on Shadow's legs, causing him to wince in pain. "You caught me by surprise, you cheap bastard!"

Sonic feels his leg move in the opposite direction. He looks away from Shadow's struggling face to see Shadow pushing his leg against the lock, freeing his leg from danger. Sonic tries to push harder, but it was no use. Shadow's strength was far superior to Sonic's.

Shadow spun out of Sonic's grasp and stood quickly on his feet. Sonic did the same. "Huh…" Sonic pouted as Shadow wiped his nose. "You're stronger than I remember…" Sonic thinks for a second.

"And you seem to fail the name the doctor gave you, hedgehog." Shadow lunges at Sonic! Sonic quickly evades him with a kick to his back, sending Shadow rolling gracefully to his feet again. "But your speed is another thing… no matter. You're not leaving here alive!" He yells.

Sonic jumps at Shadow, aiming to land a kick to his head! He feels his leg get caught, causing him to gasp. Shadow flings him away into Amy's car, right through the wind shield and into the passenger seat!

"Oh my God! Sonic look out!" Amy screams from the driver's seat! Shadow bursts his torso through what's left of the windshield and grasps Sonic's throat!

"Pathetic!" Shadow spits blood into Sonic's face as his grip crushes Sonic's windpipe. Sonic then weaves his hands under Shadow's arms and slams his palms into his face! Shadow is sent rocketing back away from the car!

Sonic climbs out of the windshield, and looks for his opponent. _Damn! _Sonic thinks. _He's tougher than I remember… And he doesn't stay down…_ Sonic steps off the hood and looks around. _And apparently he can disappear too?_

_BOOM!_ Shadow emerges out of the blast of light behind Sonic, knocking him onto his stomach like a football player! Sonic slid uncontrollably in the snow until he hit something hard. He looked up to see Shadow's horror-movie-like face.

Shadow picks him up by the back of his quills and pounds his fist into Sonic's face, blood spilling out onto the snow! Then another! Suddenly Sonic felt himself lift into the air.

While Sonic was airborne, Shadow disappeared into light, and then reappeared at the arc of Sonic's descent. His jet boots let out a loud sonic boom as he launched himself into Sonic's abdomen head first, breaking ribs and rupturing organs!

Shadow kept him and Sonic off ground until they hit a nearby tree. Without removing his head, Shadow delivered a massive blow to Sonics left side! He screamed in agony as already broken ribs shattered! Then Sonic's head met with the bottom of Shadow's shoe as Shadow kicked him over his shoulder, slamming the back of Sonic's head into the tree!

It was a brutal assault, and Sonic's right eye was already swollen shut. He was bleeding dangerous quantities from the lacerations on his head and torso, and some bones had already been shattered. But, after such a long and torturous attack… Shadow removed his head and let Sonic double over in pain that's beyond the imagination's boundaries.

"It really is sad that the doctor thought you a worthy adversary" Sonic was in far too much pain to respond to Shadow's insults. "I'll give you this, though… you are one tough son of a bitch. Most people would've gone into shock from the pain, but here _you_ are, still awake…" Shadow chuckled. "Hell… still _alive_."

Sonic looked up through his watery eyes, rage building so massively it looked like he would explode. He tries to stand up, shaking and still in massive pain. He does it.

Shadow claps at Sonic. "Amazing! You still persist even though your injuries would hold you back even farther than your amateur attempts at fighting already have!" He smiles. "Oh you are a fun toy."

Sonic smiles, ignoring the pain as he always has. "Ready for round two?" He says, releasing his purplish side and getting into a fighting stance, smile still on his bruised and beat up face.

Shadow grins evilly. It was obvious he had no memory of Sonic's courage and toughness, but he could appreciate that in a way. _I've never seen anyone so fearless… or so stupid. He has no fear of death, yet knows he will meet it if he continues. _Shadow gets into his fighting stance. _Now I see why the hedgehog is such an adversary, but this won't last long I'm sure… too bad the doctor hates this creature…_ Shadow sighs through his nose._ He really is quite astounding._

* * *

Please read and review! I love the feedback, it really helps me do the story and keep at it. Thank you in advance, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. :)


	10. Who Will Survive?

Amy ran through the snow around her parked car, in a frantic search for the two hedgehogs. Her totaled car would do her no good in travel, and looking on foot isn't effective against two supersonic runners. "Ugh!" Amy held her cell phone in front of her face, looking through her contacts. "There is seriously no one I can call?" She gets frustrated at the lack of luck she is having. Then her eyes smile. "Tails!"

"Give me that!" A robotic arm snatches the device out of Amy's hand at Robotnik's request. "You will not interfere with Sonic and Shadow's fight."

Amy turns to see Eggman in a rusty old hovercraft, obviously torn from years of damage and lack of repair. "You really think that Shadow will beat Sonic?" She smiles mockingly. "I think that IQ's gone down a bit in the last few years." Her face becomes serious, but her eyes begin to worry. "You're out of your Goddamn mind if you think that'll happen." She sees Eggman smile. "After he beat Shadow last time, what makes you think he'll lose to him now?"

Eggman laughed a laugh that could make the soul cringe. "You forget something you miserable little girl." Eggman chuckled again, as if it was bubbling out of him. He stares down at Amy as the hovercraft closes in on her. She backs up a little, realizing now that she could really use it, her hammer is gone, leaving her slightly more vulnerable. "It's because Shadow doesn't age. Shadow doesn't fatigue. He never deteriorates or rusts, and time without battle gives him no disadvantage." Eggman goes nose to nose with Amy. "Sonic hasn't seen battle in a long time now… even getting married I hear. Hardly enough time in that busy schedule for training. Not to mention he's over twenty now. That means his ligaments and tendons aren't as flexible as they used to be when he was sixteen." He smiles, pressing his nose against Amy's. "Quite a few disadvantages, wouldn't you agree?"

Amy plants her fist firmly in the doctor's mouth! Blood and teeth fly to each side of Eggman's face as he is flung back into his chair, sitting back and nursing his bleeding gums.

Amy looks at her bloody fist, then back at Robotnik with her luminous green eyes. "Sonic will win, Eggman. That I can guarantee." Her eyes grow hateful. "What I can't guarantee is you leaving here alive." She draws her right foot back into her fighting stance.

"Hmph" Eggman presses a button and a long mechanical arm shoots at her! She dodges and kicks it with a back flip into shards of metal and two useless pieces of scrap, all in one quick and graceful move.

There's a silence. Amy's eyes are fully engaged on Eggman, reflecting the white snow which lit them eerily.

"Remember my old cousin? The war hero they called Rob'o?" She said, hot tears in her eyes. "The one that you had assassinated in the Mercian war?"

"Doesn't even ring a bell" Eggman said snootily as he wiped his mouth.

Amy jumped up and slammed her foot into Eggman's unprotected stomach, forcing blood out of his mouth! She landed on the front part of the craft. Amy was full out bawling in a fury. "I WATCHED HIM DIE, YOU FUCKER!" She kicks Eggman in the hard in the head, knocking him brutally to the side! Then again with the other leg! Then she leans down to the doctor's eye level and grabs him by the shirt collar, smiling sadistically, only the remnants of tears on her face. "The last thing he taught me was how to defend myself against scum like you." She gets up close to his face. "Who's at a disadvantage in this situation, doctor?" Her smile widens. "I'm gonna enjoy gutting you with my bare fucking hands…" She continues to smile psychotically, but contrary to her predictions, so did Robotnik. He even let out a few chuckles. This really tested Amy's already blown temper. "What's so funny? The thought of me ripping you apart piece by piece give you a hard on, you sick freak?"

"Oh no, it's not that." He laughed. He pushes Amy off of him, sending her soaring through the snow. Eggman gets up and jumps high off his craft, almost out of vision. Amy rolls out of the way as he comes down hard on the ground with almost earth quaking force! Eggman stands straight up and laughs with his face to the sky. "Did you really buy that old sickly man act for a second?" He faces Amy. "You're a 5'3 pink hedgehog in the middle of a green and white forest." He watches Amy take off her coat for freedom of movement. "You don't quite blend in, so I noticed you eavesdropping on my little conversation with Shadow from the first second."

"So what?" Amy shout, tossing down her coat and throwing some practice punches in the air. "You're still screwed, even if I'm pink and you can jump."

"Ahahahaha" he laughed looking down at his legs. "Before that traitor Sidney shot a hole in my skull, I thought up a small redesign for my own body." He lifts his pants legs up a little to show metal robotic limbs underneath. Cuts on his sleeve already show the metallic right arm. "Did you really think I was such a vulnerable target?"

"That's a dirty trick, you cheap old fool!" Amy yelled, preparing her battle stance again.

He laughs again, "All is fair in love and war, my dear" He says. He bursts into laughter again, waving his hand toward Amy as a gesture of 'its too funny'. His laughter cuts short instantly and his face hardens in expression. "Well you were wrong." A beam of energy shoots out of that hand, nearly hitting Amy as she dodges !

* * *

"You're getting slow!" Sonic shouted energetically to Shadow.

Shadow screamed down to the Earth, landing hard on his feet as Sonic dodged his attack! "Chickenshit!" Shadow yelled as he searched for Sonic.

_WHACK! _Sonic slammed his knee into Shadow's head from an aerial assault! He sped off into the forest while Shadow was on his knees recovering. Then the blue blur raced in with a supersonic drop kick to Shadow's face, hurling him onto his back! Shadow opened his eyes and met the front end of Sonic's shoe, kicking his head like a soccer ball!

Shadow felt the muscles in his neck tear slightly from that last blow, and his vision grew blurry. He watched as another blow to the head echoed in his numb ears, muffled by the red liquid clogging them. It was like the volume had been turned down by more than half, and Shadow just felt like sleeping… But that would make Sonic the victor, and he couldn't let that happen!

He grabbed Sonic's ankle and pulled him to the ground! As his senses came back, he crawled quickly up Sonic's body and began pounding his heavy fists into his face! Sonic could hardly breathe! After three or four punches, Sonic caught Shadow's two arms and head butted Shadow in the face hard enough knock him backwards!

Sonic stood up as he watched Shadow do the same. Studying Shadow, Sonic could probably say he made up for the damage he'd sustained. Shadow was even bloodier and more beat up than _he_ was, and that was certainly no small feat. "How long are you gonna keep this up, Shadow?" Sonic said, smiling as best he could through cracked lips.

Shadow stood wobbling, trying to regain his breath. "Until one of us is dead." he staggered a little. It was obvious that the knocks in the head had affected Shadow's balance and coordination. Shadow fell to his knees. "Shit!" He whispered, trying to get up, but falling back each time.

Sonic walked over to him, propelled by his honor to help his opponent. "Shadow, don't. It's over. I won, you lost." Sonic sighed as Shadow tried one more time to get up. "Let me help you. You need a doctor… or mechanic or something-"

_WHAM! _Shadow's fist cracked Earth-shatteringly into the unsuspecting hedgehog's crotch, lifting his feet off the ground! Sonic withdrew backward and fell hard sideways on the forest floor, hands tight between his legs.

"Uggh" Sonic moaned agonizingly on the floor in front of Shadow. He managed to look up at Shadow, now standing up and grinning degenerately at Sonic's pain. "You fucking dirty bastard…" Sonic said almost inaudibly within another groan.

"Nothing is dirty in a fight to the death." He walked over to Sonic and sat on his doubled over and squirming body. He raps his arm around Sonic's neck and pulls him into a headlock. Sonic is in too much pain to defend himself. "But believing your opponent… that's just stupid, Sonic." He taps on the blue hedgehog's head. "Where is your brain today? Did I knock the marble lose?" He chuckles as he releases Sonic's head and fishes around in his coat pocket. "You know it's almost arctic out here, and your only wearing a scarf, gloves, socks and shoes. It's ridiculous, you must be freezing your ass off." He stops fishing through his pocket and pulls out a lighter without opening it.

Shadow dusts off the snow from the ground, revealing a metallic G.U.N. insignant. "You know, this is an old weapons storage facility. There's such a ridiculous amount of explosives down there, just a few meters below you." The grin on Shadow's face ran chills down Sonic's spine. What was worse, was that he was virtually helpless against whatever he had planned for him.

* * *

Robotnik pounded his metal fist into Amy's stomach, sending her partially through her already totaled car! She rolled out of the way as the arm extended at the car, knocking it far out of sight! Amy turned sharply back to Eggman as his arm contracted to it's original form.

"What's the matter?" Eggman laughed. "Is the little girl afraid of the big bag bio-mech?" He could tell his mocking was getting to her as she approached him in a sideways strafe, maintaining her stance. "Hmph! You're nothing but a pathetic little worm," His arm extends again, rocketing in her direction!

This time she sees it coming and leaps onto it, running for Robotnik's head! She jets her heal into the soft side of Robotnik's face, knocking him back onto his respirator! She leapfrogs off of him, landing elegantly a few feet away, her back toward Robotnik.

She hears an odd noise behind her, like a struggling or more like… a suffocating. She turns and sees Eggman, scrambling around on the floor with the inability to get a deep enough breath to satisfy his need for oxygen. The machine gave him enough air that he would probably last a few hours, but didn't cut off completely so as to suffocate him within a few minutes. It would be a long and torturous death. But that wasn't good enough for Amy…

She gets up and walks over to where the car was. "Your not going to die that way." She says seriously. Kneels down and picks up a shard of glass from the windshield. She studies it in her hand, then starts over to Robotnik. There was no emotion on her face, and only one thing certain in her mind…

* * *

Please read and comment! It's probably compulsive saying it at the end of every chapter lately, but I really love all of your comments, they are like the fuel that keeps me writing.


	11. The Arborous Death Bed

The snow and wind had halted, as if in anticipation for the next move. Shadow opened the hatch in front of the blue hedgehog's grimaced face, clicking the lighter with the other hand. It took a few times to light the spark. "I don't know if you believe in God, Sonic." Shadow began, a dark lining around each of his words as he stared at the fetal hedgehog. "But if you do, now would be the time to pray." The lighter lit, and Shadow dropped it over the opening in the ground, a demonic smile inching across his face.

"No!" Sonic grabbed the lighter out of midair and closed it in his palm. Shadow gasped, turning around to Sonic. "I'm not finished with you yet!" Sonic charged from his position, tackling Shadow to the floor!

Shadow quickly threw him off of him and stood up, positioning himself in his stance, mirroring Sonic. "You really don't give up, do you?" Shadow was a bit less chipper this time around. "So the doctor was right, you are quite a pain in the ass."

"It's what I'm here for." Sonic smiled, still holding the lighter. "What round were we up to?"

"The final one, let's go!" Shadow rammed his knee into Sonic's stomach, followed by a chop to the throat! Then Shadow grabbed the back of Sonic's neck and rammed his forearm into his nose, a crimson explosion on his face! Sonic was knocked back a bit, which was Shadow's perfect opportunity to roundhouse kick him to the floor face first! The lighter fell out of Sonic's hands, next to the stunned hedgehog's head.

"Finally." Shadow said. He walked over and picked up the lighter, lit it, snapped off the top, and through the thing down the hole beside Sonic. There was no smile on his face this time. "And so it ends for you here, Sonic." He notices sonic start to recuperate.

He stomps on Sonic's calf, snapping the bone in two! "AAAAAAAGGGGH!" Sonic screamed at the unbearable pain. Not only the excruciating physical pain, but knowing that he was helpless. No matter what he did now… he was dead.

Shadow watched Sonic scream and grunt for a while. With a sigh of nostalgia, he says, "I'm sorry it had to end this way, Sonic, but I'm afraid you won't be escaping this time." He starts to walk away.

Sonic glares up with tears of hatred brimming at his eyes. "Neither will you!" Sonic screams. He knocks Shadow's heels with his arm, tripping him into the hole! Shadow catches the edges of the hole, just barely keeping himself up. "If I die here…" Sonic's voice is unforgiving and harsh, his eyes following that notion. "No one will be able to stop you when you decide that you want someone else dead." His face is a frightening expression. He palms him in the face, sending him down the hatch! "If I'm going down, you're coming with me!" He yells.

Shadow lands hard on the steel ground, but recovers speedily as he stands. The room is pitch black with the exception of the light above Shadow's head, illuminating only him. He reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out an emerald. "Chaos…" He says. The emerald responds, glowing brightly enough for Shadow to see his surroundings. The flame had caught some loose gun powder, and was headed up to the explosives quickly. He smiled weakly. "Stupid hedgehog…" He whispers. "Chaos…" The flame ignites, the explosives expanding in a fiery fury. "Control!"

Sonic closed his eyes peacefully as the explosion busted through the ground beneath him, igniting everything! Trees flooded the skies in an array of blacks, browns and greens. The bright fire soon consumed all the colors into one large mushroom cloud. The glow of the explosion would have been beautiful… if not for the circumstances.

* * *

The ground quaking barely phased Amy as she walked over to Robotnik. "Please!" He pleaded through airless cries. "It won't bring him back!… He- he wouldn't want you to do this!" Robotnik tried to think up every line from every movie he'd ever seen. Anything to escape with his life. She wouldn't have blinked if not for the dust and dirt flying through the air.

She gripped the glass tighter as she knelt over Eggman's helpless, wheezing body. She took off the goggles over Eggman's eyes, threw them to the side, and stared menacingly at Eggman. "I want you to see the face of your killer as you die!" She stabs him once in the stomach, a trail of blood following the glass on it's way out. "I want you to see the face of my cousin in my eyes!" Her voice gets louder, nearly screaming. She stabs him again, just next to the last puncture. Her face is eaten by an angry smile of relief and grief. Her eyes begin to water in memory of her dear cousin. "But most of all…" She stabs him again as Eggman wrenches in pain, redness dripping from his mouth. "I want to see your eyes… when you realize that you died by my hand!" Her face loses it's furious grin, and Eggman's eyes widen as they stare into each other for that final split second.

The glass goes in and out of him at least seven more times, carving his gut into a bloody mess! The glass cut her hand as she kept going, but she wouldn't stop. She couldn't stop… But finally, her arm tired and she threw the shard off to the side, crying into her bloody hands.

"Shadow…" Robotnik groaned looking off to the side. Amy uncovered her eyes and followed Robotnik's to see Shadow, only fifty or sixty yards away. There were tears in his eyes, but nothing else. His face was placid and his arms perfectly still at his sides.

"Doctor…" His deep voice cracked as he helplessly watched his master die from afar.

"Shadow," Robotnik smiled through his pain. "Kill them…" he wheezed, coughing under his shallow breath. "Kill them all." The laugh that came out of his mouth could not be described using words. It can only be felt in the moment; chills running down your spine and a fear that you've never felt before. His head dropped as Amy's eyes widened in horror. There was little chance that his statement excluded her.

Shadow's face contorted and streams began to run down his face. His jaw tightens at Amy. "You WHORE!" He screamed, crying to himself. He started to storm over, his rage boiling out through his red irises.

Then the ground began shaking again. An arrow of flames shoots out of the ground between Amy and Shadow, sending them flying in either direction!

Shadow lands on his feet. _Of course. _He thinks, still crying. _That was no small facility down there. It stretches through almost the whole forest!_ There's a brief silence. He runs for his master's corpse, tears flowing generously. He grabs him and embraces him tightly, drops falling from his eyes onto Robotnik's chest, mingling with the blood. "Ch…" he can hardly speak through the tears. "Chaos… con…control." The explosion eradicates the ground, throwing dirt and grass everywhere as Shadow and Eggman disappear into a ball of light.

* * *

Amy rolls down the jagged face of the hill, each blow nearly knocking her cold. After a while, she rolls limply onto the busy highway, on the brink of conscious… and barely breathing…

_Sonic…_ She calls in a whisper, letting the tears run down onto the pavement. Cars screech to a halt and horns sound. _Sonic… _Her face grimaced as she sobbed heavily. Her eyes begin to close as she falls into blackness, watching a car stop and two blurs walk out to her.

* * *

Anybody catch the symbolism? Well, stay tuned, because there's more "Haunting Memories" still to come.


	12. The Madness Has Just Begun

"_Amy…"_ She hears. It's as if the sound had been turned off for her. Her eyes opened to a pigmentation of blurry whites and violets. _"Amy…" _The voice becomes more clear, almost to the point that Amy can put a face on it. That raspy, yet somehow beautiful voices owner slowly came to mind.

"R… Rouge?" She mumbled. With half slit eyes, she could make out a hospital room. The dingy smell and I.V. in her arm proved that theory.

"Hey Amy." Rouge said, smiling weakly at Amy. "Good to see you up."

"Where am I." One eye opened, the other stayed falcate due to the swelling.

"Hospital, honey. You took quite a fall back in the forest out east." She sat at Amy's bedside, bushing her bangs with her hand. "Do you remember, big girl?"

Amy's head drooped. "Yeah… I do" Rouge spotted tears in her eyes. "Figures."

"What do you mean?" She stopped with Amy's hair and seriousness spread across her face.

"I finally got the revenge I wanted" She said, smiling gratuitously. "I finally get Eggman to pay for what he did to me. Therapy didn't do shit, talking about it made it worse." She sighs. "And now I finally get what I want, and it put me in the hospital and…" her eyes grow wide, then red, then wet. "Where's Sonic?" She whimpers.

"Probably back with Tails at their old house. You know he still hangs around there." She gets up and walks to the foot of the bed. "I wouldn't have seen him if he was gone, we live more than three hundred miles away from each other." She smiles coldly. "Frankly, I wouldn't mind keeping it that way." She starts toward the door at the end of the small room, but stops to look at Amy. "Anyway, you shouldn't worry about him. You're the one in the hospital bed, after all."

"I…" She pulls in the covers, whipping her hair. "Um… do you know when the doctor will let me go?"

"A cat scan and a band aid, and you should be patched up and ready to go, kid." She smirks sarcastically. "Don't worry about that now, 'kay doll. You should get some rest." She starts on her way out, stopping to give a silhouette a kiss. It was a silhouette that rang far too familiar for Amy right now. "I'll send the doctor in." Rouge calls back to the room.

Amy is too scared to answer. What was even scarier was seeing that red and black quilled silhouette walk into the room. She simply stared it down, which was inevitably returned.

"How are you, my chew toy to be? Miss me?" Shadow says viciously, speaking dentriloquistically* as he smiles. "Hope this isn't too much of a surprise, but I think you knew I'd be back." He sits on the bed, fiddling with his cell phone.

"What do you want from me, murderer?" Amy said blatantly, eyes moving back and forth to study the infiltrator.

Shadow's eyes lurk down to Amy's abdomen with a devious smile. Those fiery red eyes seem to burn holes in her. "Well, someone's been keeping fit." He said almost laughing.

"Fuck you!" She spit in his face, vehemently staring at him.

Shadow wiped his face with his eyes closed. "Disgusting." He said nonchalantly, looking up at her in a disapproving half grin. He lunges for her throat, choking out her oxygen supply with his shear grasp! "You want to know what I'm gonna do?" He grits angrily at the choking pink hedgehog, dragging her up the head of her bed. "I'm gonna make you suffer, the way you made me suffer!" Amy could feel his breath, hot and odorless. She struggled in vain to escape his enigmatically strong grip. "You killed everyone I know, so I'm going to let you experience that pain first hand."

"The…" Amy struggled to speak.

Shadow's grip tightened on her throat, causing her to wince. "I don't want to hear your FUCKING MOUTH right now!" He growled. He released her to choke in desperate gasps for air.

"Eggman killed everyone I knew, you miserable fuck!" She yelled as best she could, which amounted to a whisper of volume. "So go fuck yourself with your miserable death threats!" She felt angry tears rise. "Then you killed Sonic, you motherfucker!" She beat her fists into the comforter, glaring eyes and steaming nostrils.

There was a small silence. All that could be heard was the outside hallway bustling. They both stared at each other, waiting for the other's mouth to open and more meaningless garbage to spew out of it.

"Well…" Shadow said after a long wait. "You still have most of your friends now." He put his cell phone in his pocket.

"And you still have Rouge." Amy growled. "That means you still have half the people in your memory…" She sniffled, wiping boiling streams off her cheeks. She left dark pink marks following her hands. "I've lost my parents, my uncles, my aunts, my cousin, and more friends than people in this hospital! ALL of them died at your 'master's' hand!" Her face reddens with rage boiling past the point of eruption. Then her eyes pierce with pure and untainted hate, the rest of her ceasing to exist. "Then you took away Sonic…" A hot tear streams down her face. "I will never forgive you for that." She whispers.

Shadow smiles with his hand on his head. Then he starts to laugh. It was a mocking and insidious laugh. "What is so funny, you freak?" Amy yells, her voice finally gaining some volume.

"Hahaha…" Shadow opens his eyes. "You actually think I give two shits about your little tragedy?" He continues to laugh, driving Amy into a boiling ire. Her eyes widen as best they can with small pupils. "And you also think I care about Rouge? I would kill the little bitch the first chance I got if she wasn't so fun to fuck!" That devious grin returned as the laughter halted.

"You bastard…" Amy grumbled. "I can't wait to get out of here so I can kick your ass."

"Just try it, little girl." He smiles powerfully. "And I'll make you wish you died in that explosion." He starts on his way out, but stops midway. "Oh!" He palms his forehead. "I almost forgot the reason I came here." He looks at her with the eyes of a snake. "I wanted to tell you the order in which I was going to kill your friends."

Amy's eyes shoot up. "Touch them and I'll tear your fucking limbs off." She says seriously without expression.

Shadow chuckles at the comment. "So cliché." He paces. "I think I'll start with the closest to Sonic… Sally Acorn." Shadow takes into account the look on Amy's face. "Though that one will be challenging, seeing as she is the princess of Knothole, and Sonic's former bed buddy."

Amy tries getting up, but her wounds keep her in place.

"Then I'll move on to Tails… ooh" He smiles with an almost euphoric joy out of the thought. "I'm going to enjoy gutting the little bastard…" He looks at Amy, who was sitting at her bedside. "And then, I'll leave you for last, just to have some fun with it." He smiles as he leaves.

"Halt!" Shadow is stopped by a security guard. "You're coming with me!"

Shadow looks over at Amy, cocky as ever. "You hit the silent alarm, you sneaky little whore." He looks back at the oversized human guard, then back at Amy. "You just killed a man."

"Alright, that's enough out of you!" The guard grabs Shadow's arm. Shadow weaves out of the lock, grabs the security guard and crushes the tendons in his thick forearm. "AAAAAAGGGGH!" The guard screamed.

"Pathetic human!" Shadow release the grimacing guard. Then he snap kicks him in the face, painting the walls all shades of scarlet and ruby. The guard topples onto his back! There's screaming in the hallway, people running, calling for help.

Shadow straddles himself on top of him, raising his fist in the air forshadowingly. He knocks the guard's head once, blood coating his mouth. Shadow's face was a rock, placid and mechanical. He slams his fist in again… and again… and again…

Soon the guard fell limp.

Shadow slowly stood up, blood drizzling quickly from his murky red hands. He stares at the body wide-eyed, as if the crushed in skull of a six foot three bodybuilder was anything peculiar. But his eyes, the chill of murderousness had left them. They were warm, sad, and nostalgic.

"Ma…" He whispers under his breath. Flashing images overtake his mind. "Who are you?" Stumbles out of his mouth. A blond girl appears, smiling amiably in his mind's eye. Her blue dress and eyes seem dark among the light surrounding her. It was a dreamy image, one evoked from a distrait mind. Then the most relevant image appears.

"_Sayonara, Shadow the hedgehog…" BANG! _The images make him flinch, the loud bang of the gunshot scattering her to pieces in his recollection of events. "Maria…" He says habitually. His head tilts in perplexity, pausing to think. "Maria?" He repeats without recognition.

"This is the police." The speaker outside the hospital commanded. Shadow turn to the window in Amy's room. "We have you surrounded. Cooperate peacefully and you will not be harmed."

Shadow smirked bitterly. "Harmed?" Shadow mocked. "They obviously have no idea who they're dealing with." He takes the chaos emerald out of his pocket. It glows dimly. "But there's little sport in killing the simple minded." He looks down at the guard's decapitated body, pondering over what had occurred. "Sorry" He says to the dead body.

He turns to Amy's bed, his mouth anticipating words. They didn't come, for Amy was gone. Only a wrinkled white bed sheet lie in her place.

"Humph." Shadow grunted. She'd obviously run off and out the open window while Shadow was busy bludgeoning the guard to death. It was only the first story of the hospital building, it would've only proved difficult due to her wounds. Shadow could tell she had been through worse. "Chaos…" He begins.

"Alright, lay down your weapons. We're coming in." The speaker said.

"Control" Shadow disappears into the blazing chaos control portal.

* * *

The siren wailed as Amy drove the speeding ambulance through streetlights and down city blocks. _I have to keep going! _She thought in self preservation. There were still remnants of tears on her cheeks that she hadn't bothered to wipe off. She appeared strong and fragile all at once. She could conquer the world and yet be buried in it. It was an appearance seen only in times like these, it would seem. You are running from your fears, but nothing can frighten you along the way.

A flash of light caught Amy's attention for a second. It came from an alley between two ramshackle buildings. "Shadow…" She thought out loud. Her foot nearly crushed the gas pedal into itself as the truck cometted forward. All that ran across her mind now was survival. Survival of herself, of her friends, her sanity, all of which seemed in danger.

_THUD! _The ambulance wrenched forward before Amy slammed on the brakes. She got out of the car, cursing wildly.

"Fuck!" There were tears forming in her eyes. She had seen the obstacle run in front of her vehicle. It stood barely five feet. "Oh my God… I think a hit a child…" She hesitantly looked over to the fallen body.

"AAAAAAAAGGGGH!" She screamed an unearthly scream, the kind heard out of people tortured or raped. The body was looking up at her with its red, sultry eyes.

Shadow laughed senselessly at her screams as he got up, dusting off his car coat.

Amy dashed without hesitance to the driver's seat and again slammed on the gas pedal. The car screamed into motion, a second thud as Shadow was hit again. She gathered herself as she continued onward, breathing slowly, controlling each breath on the release.

She swore under her heavy breath, feeling slightly dizzy behind the wheel. "I have to stay awake… I don't care if I die at Knothole…" She tries to adjust her position to stay awake. "But I have to tell Sally and Tails…" Her eyes begin to roll backwards as the car swerves. She shakes her head, her eyes readjusting themselves. "Oh, shit…"

She stops the car, looking around for a restaurant. She spots a fast-food dive. "Perfect." She pulls up to the window and orders a espresso. After pulling up to the window, and receiving a few noticeable stares at her vehicular choice, received her espresso using the change left on the ambulance's floor. She then drove off.

The espresso certainly helped, though her wounds still pained her. Three fractured ribs, a concussion, and a body of bruises don't go away into coffee. She pressed on though, driving more sanely than before. Her injured head had made her more light sensitive, so the oncoming cars in the adjacent lane nearly blinded her with each passing, causing her to slow down. The fact that the night sky teased her eyes with darkness didn't help very much. The siren and lights helped traffic along though.

She decided to turn on the radio, being utterly fed up with the monotonous sound of the siren. She pressed through the buttons until she found a pleasant tune. It was unearthly happy and bubbly, but it was better then nothing.

The tune changed, replaced by a screamo station. She looked toward the radio as she drove. The station had changed. She turned it back, then looked back toward the road.

"You have terrible taste in music, Amy" Shadow's voice paralyzed Amy, her foot gliding heavier and heavier on the pedal. Shadow smiled. "If you think you're going to get the chance to make me betray my master, and let the princess and Tails live, you've got another thing coming." He lunges at her throat, causing her to spin the steering wheel uncontrollably!

The ambulance topples off the road, tumbling helplessly through the grassy roadside! It slams into a tree, crushing in the roof of the car!

Amy lie limp in the driver's seat, with Shadow nowhere in sight. There is no movement in her body, and her closed eyelids are coated in blood and coffee. There was glass conjoined with her flesh at every section of her.

Shadow walked up to Amy's motionless body, a nefarious smile growing across his clean face. He leans down and checks her pulse. Then he checks the airway. Shadow then laughs evilly. "I told you I would saver you till last, my dear. I intend on keeping to that." he sees a car stop and a girl come out, dialing for help. "Samaritan…" He grumbles. He does chaos control and reappears about a mile away from the crash. "She'll be asleep for quite some time, I think. In her comatose, she won't be able to foil my plans." He begins to walk. "Tails and Sally will fall as master fell. This is my new purpose… vengeance."

* * *

This was a big final chapter to the first haunting memories/ introduction to the next. Let's recap!

Recap: Shadow finally escaped from the apparition named Maria. His problem is solved. Now, however, he faces two new problems. He is now to kill two innocent people to satisfy a purpose given to him by a master he'd only known for about a day. Also, he doesn't know who this omnipresent girl is, this Maria. He lacks any recollection of her other than pieces of scattered information. The haunting stayed, but the memories didn't.

Amy has finally gotten the revenge she wanted for years. Her cousin is finally granted justice, but that justice came with a price. Her friends are in danger and she can do nothing about it because she's incapacitated. Now she cannot warn her friends of the impending danger. Shadow now has the clear opportunity now to eliminate all those Amy became close with.

What will happen next? …That's what sequels are for.

(Please don't kill me…)

* * *

*Dentriloquistically- (speaking) through gritted or closed teeth


End file.
